After deciding that the original radiator on my 64 Dart wasn't worth the risk of welding (about a 5" fissure on the upper tank), I did some searching and found an exact replacement from a junkyard. Aesthetically, the replacement ain't much to look at, but besides a pinhole leak, it should do the trick. I'm taking the replacement to be de-pinholed and cleaned. Any ideas what I should do with the old radiator? I figure it's gotta be worth something to somebody. Besides the fissure, it's in beautiful shape.

When I put the new radiator on and flush the system, should I add anything to the water to help with the cleaning or just use straight H2O? Also, how important is it to take out the drain plug (oh, the horror stories I've heard) and replace the freeze plugs? Do you flush with drain plug and freeze plugs out (I'm very new to this, clearly)? The engine has 64,000 on it. Has always run very cool.

Anything else I need to know when making the swap? Many thanks for the input.

Jeremy, whose car, no matter what god-awful smells you try to flood it with, always smells like wigs and tobacco.

I didn't take out the drain plug when I tried a do-it-yourself radiator flush. But it wouldn't hurt, other than spilling more water on the ground.

Using chemical cleaners might be a good idea, but nothing too aggressive.

If the freeze plugs aren't leaking and you aren't using some sort of cleaner so powerful it eats through copper, there's no reason to remove them. You can deal with leaks if they occur later.

As for what to do with a radiator that's not worth welding...

When I replaced the radiator that had corroded to the point that it would no longer cool, I donated the old radiator to a slightly eccentric (in a good way) professor who collected broken items, categorized by what caused their failure. No joke. (Some other items in this list might be.)

Find someone who disagrees on whether it is worth welding and give it to him.

Use it to distill whiskey and cause an outbreak of blindness.

Drill a hole through the center and make a clock out of it.

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"Mad Scientist" Matt Cramer
'66 Dart - turbocharged 225
My blog - Mad Scientist Matt's Lair

Matt, thanks for the tips. I've already made a coffee table out of a '73 Chevelle trunk lid; perhaps I'll add a Dodge Dart rad grotto to my wall.

If your flushing the system then I'd recommend taking out the plug. Freeze plugs - don't remove unless leaking and need to replace.

The plug in the block collects lots of crud behind it that won't come out with a regular backflush. Just make sure you use a 4 or 8 point socket on the plug because they are really easy to strip otherwise. DO NOT use a crescent or pipe wrench or open end wrench on it

The original block in my car when I bought it had overheating problems... removed the plug and NO liquid came out, the area behind it was plugged solid with gunk. Heard a few similar stories on here. Chances are yours isn't clogged though because you said its cooling fine, but I'd still remove it as a matter of good measure while your doing the service

Thanks for the advice, Pierre. I'll probably give the drain plug a go, then. As for back-flushing, I got one of those hose t-connectors from NAPA. I'm not sure what the "back" in back-flushing means. Does that simply refer to the direction the water travels? How do you control that? Something to do with the T-connector?

Yep, that's it.
Those T-connections are OK for light-duty flushing, but they won't get the whole job done where cleaning needs are heavy. You will probably want to punch out at least one of the engine's core plugs (on the driver's side of the block) and use a stiff wire to scratch around in the block , freeing up the gunk to be flushed forward (using a hose with a nozzle, inserted into the core hole plug, with a rag stuffed around it to seal) and ejected from the engine through the lower radiator hose, disconnected from the radiator.

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Thanks, Dan. SOrry for my ignorance, but is a core plug separate from a freeze plug?

Nope, same thing. Core plug, freeze plug, frost plug, probably some other names for them, too.

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

If the core is truly sound you can pull the top tank and throw it away, and save the rest for a rainy day. At least save the bottom tank, they are harder to come by nowadays. Rad cores are worth a bit more than scrap iron if you get enough of them together to make a trip. They would probably be nice for soundproofing a recording studio, too. At any rate it certainly doesnt need to go to the landfill.

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

Thanks for the help guys.

After replacing the rad, I get to tackle a carb rebuild. Very exciting.

What would anyone suggest, if anything, adding to the water for a better flush?

Napa used to have a product, I think it was called #13 "unlucky for rust" that you would put in the radiator and run for about 1000 miles then drain and refill. I used it a couple of times with good results.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.